by By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

by By David Leon Moore, USA TODAY Sports

The story that seemed too inspirational and uplifting to be true - South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius putting on carbon fiber blades and qualifying for last summer's Olympics - turned tragic Thursday.

The news shocked the world as Pistorius, the so-called Blade Runner who became a global icon, was charged with shooting and killing his girlfriend in his house in South Africa. Pistorius, 26, faces a bail hearing Friday.

"I don't think there was a single track fan who wasn't inspired by what Oscar was doing," Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at the University of Oregon, said. "He seemed like a rare crossover figure that could bring attention to a sport like track that really needs it, and now maybe it's for all the wrong reasons."

Nike and Oakley, two of Pistorius' major sponsors, took a wait-and-see approach Thursday. Pistorius once appeared in a Nike ad coming out of the starting blocks to the phrase, "I am the bullet in the chamber." That ad was removed from his personal web site Thursday.

Nike issued a statement saying it "extends its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families concerned following this tragic incident." It declined to comment further, citing the police investigation.

In South Africa, an ad campaign featuring Pistorius for the Oscars was pulled from broadcaster M-Net.

Swangard said Nike's is the proper, cautious approach for now given that all the facts are not known.

The circumstances of the incident are still unclear but police said they would oppose bail when the Paralympic gold medalist appears in court. The hearing had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon but was delayed to give forensics investigators time to do their work, the Associated Press reported.

Police in South Africa do not name suspects in crimes until they have appeared in court, but police spokesperson Brigadier Denise Beukes said that Pistorius was at his home after the death of the victim and that "there is no other suspect involved."

Beukes said Pistorius was involved in past "allegations of a domestic nature."

Reeva Steenkamp, 30, was shot four times early Thursday morning at Pistorius' home in Pretoria, South Africa, police said. She was a model and recent contestant on Tropika Island of Treasure 5, a South African reality TV show.

Her uncle, Mike Steenkamp, told news reporters, "It was such a devastating shock that her whole life, what she could achieve, never came to fulfillment."

Samantha Moon, executive producer of the reality TV show, described Reeva Steenkamp as vivacious, beautiful, caring and sweet, in an interview with eNews Channel Africa on Thursday.

If you just saw Steenkamp's modeling photos, "You sometimes miss the person underneath who was just this incredible girl," Moon said, adding that her friend was brainy. Steenkamp held a law degree from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth.

Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, has no idea what happened at Pistorius' house when gunfire rang out Thursday.

But he has a pretty good idea why most people feel so shocked about the incident.

"People get all this attention because of something they do really well, and they grow to be beloved, whether it's Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods or Oscar Pistorius," Thompson said.

"And then something happens and it's like the old Black Sox scandal - 'Say it ain't so, Joe.'"

Thompson said the idea that we really get to know these sports heroes is pretty far-fetched.

"On some level we kind of incorporate them into our family, and then stories like this happen and the truth becomes evident that we don't have any idea what his character is like," he said.

"It seems like it's almost one a month these days, but this one is really sad because the nature of this story was so uplifting."